Weird symbols explained! # $ ℞ £

Why are so many symbols and abbreviations so strange? Like why is the dollar sign an "S"? Here is the story behind a bunch of them.

[TheRealTricky]

As an addition to this list:

Well today in the Netherlands we got the Euro and I guess the origin of the Euro sign € is pretty obvious, however before adopting the Euro, we had of course the guilder, or in Dutch "gulden". Many people have asked me why the sign of the guilder was shaped like an "f" like this ƒ since neither the English nor the Dutch name of the currency had an "f" in it anywhere.

Well that's easily to explain. The original Dutch currency was not the guilder but it was the florin, named after the Italian city of Florin, or in Dutch often referred to by its French exonym "Florence". In Dutch they were called "florijnen". These "florins" were made of gold (or at least that was what they wanted people to believe, anyway), and the ancient Dutch word for "golden" is "gulden". Nobody in the Netherlands uses that word in reference to gold anymore as in modern Dutch the word for gold is "goud", however the word "gulden" was just to say "gulden florijn" in other words "golden florin" in the ancient days. People got lazy and in the end the word "florijn" was removed and the name "gulden" remained and even became official so the "gulden" became the official currency by the ƒ signed remained until the very day the guilder was taken out of the money flow to be replaced by the euro.

Some older typewriters and computers did not always support the ƒ sign, and then it was often written as "Fl." which also hints to the history behind the "florijn".

[captainwilliam]

My therapist: MustacheMcCullough isn’t real, he can’t hurt you
MustacheMcCullough:

[trevorlambert]

Fun fact: until fairly recently, it was considered incorrect to use the $ symbol to represent dollars (although people often did it anyway). That was reserved for Pesos, whereas the dollar sign was an S with two lines through it. That went out the window as computers became ubiquitous, since there's only the one symbol on there.

[GroovingPict]

The # didnt come from the capital letters LB as your animation suggests, it came from the lower case lb. Which in handwriting can look a bit like the number 16. So to distinguish it from that, people started adding a crossbar across the two ascenders. This carried over into printing, and became more and more flourished, to the point where it was hardly even recognised as two letters, and then it became more and more simplified again, ending in the # we have today.

[itzmeleo]

JJ: says pound
Me : he must mean £
JJ: puts lb.
Me: Sad British Noises

[Tobberz]

You are the first Canadian I have heard who actually says aroond and aboot, lol. I thought that was just a myth...
I'm sorry that it sounds comical to my ears :(

[tomfrazier]

The dollar sign is also said to be from the banners around the Pillars of Hercules on the reverse of Spanish 8 Reales coins, pieces of eight, dollar sized silver coins that became a worldwide standard unit of currency, legal tender in the U.S. until 1857. The banners around these pillars said Non plus Ultra, or something similar in Latin None Beyond or something.

[goldwinger]

# was a "number" sign long before programmers got ahold of it. Look back through old catalogs and you'll see it used quite often.

[tomfrazier]

The Dollar sign is also from the two pillars on the rear of old Spanish money. They were enmeshed by a banner "Non plus ultra" reflecting Spanish control of the Pillars of Hercules, the entrance to the Mediterranean sea from the Atlantic the $ sign more properly has two verticals.

[bbbkk]

You may speak wise words but all I hear is "aboot" :/

And I love your channel :D

[Blaqjaqshellaq]

What about the ampersand (&)? Is that from writing "et"?

[BeezerWashingbeard]

Wow the way you say aboot and aroond is really weird to my european ears. Sounds kinda dope though :)

[ThisAnkaaPerson]

Pounds in Spanish are actually called "Libras", even

Also, I'm from October and not a Libra lol :P

[tomfrazier]

I read a while ago that the $ sign is from the reverse of a piece of eight had two pillars flanking the coat of arms. They were the pillars of Hercules and were wrapped by banners saying "Non plus ultra ". This was where Spain was trying to assert itself before they found the riches of the Americas. I actually have somewhere a nearly worn out medio, half of a piece of 8, four reales.

[RobertoPR]

for mexican, this symbol ($) is universal but, that symbol with the whole line croosing the S it's pesos and two lines indicate dollars

[zachesherman]

Love your accent! Aroond for aboot! Thank you for being you!

[michaelneuser]

dude. youre awesome. i cant stop watching these videos.

[hlynnkeith]

Second time today I wanted a little pick-me-up video, and JJ's my go-to guy for that. Thanks, JJ.

[bagel]

Thanks for the whole dollar/peso/$ fact. I actually heard it was a portmanteau of the letters U and S, which is more noticeable in the double line dollar sign. The whole peso thing disproves it, though

[AdrianLikesFlags]

Dollar/Peso Sign comes from the Columns of Hercules from Spain's Coat of Arms.